Complicated Feelings
by Kawaiijapanesekisses
Summary: Ichigo and Rukia have always been able to deny their feelings, but recent events have forced them to think about it. After Ichigo confesses, Rukia does something no one would expect. And what about Orihime's feelings for Ichigo?
1. Chapter 1

"Rukia, hurry your lazy butt up! We're gonna be late to school!" Ichigo yelled, standing in the front of his house, overlooking Kakura town. Rukia ran out of the house, slamming the door shut.

"It's not my fault you woke me up late!" she huffed as she passed him, still pulling on her coat.

"And who said I was your alarm clock?" he said, as he walked ahead of her. She smiled as she put her hands up.

"I would never use you as one anyways," she said as she jumped behind him and smacked him on the back of the orange haired boy's head, "I'm not sure if all of your parts are working anyways." Ichigo smiled and pushed her, as they kept wrestling, until Rukia heard a noise come out of her pocket. She pulled the small device out and looked at it discerningly.

"No time to fool around Ichigo, there's hollow around." Ichigo put his hands behind his head.

"One little hollow? I could take on two and still-"

"Ichigo, I don't think we'll make it to class today, there's too many," she said quietly. Ichigo looked at her face and frowned. He didn't like it when she worried, or stressed. It took a toll on anyones health, and for it to be Rukia… He shook his head and smiled at her, nudging her shoulder with his elbow.

"Don't worry Rukia, we can take them. As long as we're together, nothing can stop us," he said look down at her. Rukia looked up at him, as their eyes locked. Both of their eyes widened after a minute, and they both looked away, Rukia's cheeks slightly pink.

"Y-Yeah," she laughed awkwardly, "I guess you're right." Ichigo nodded and then didn't look at her the whole time they ran to the battle field containing at least one hundred hollow. They looked at each other and nodded, as they went into their shinigami forms and faced the brave battle ahead of them.

Rukia exclaimed as she delivered the finishing blow the second to the last hollow with all her strength, and fell to the floor. Ichigo turned to find her on the ground.

"Rukia!" he exclaimed, as he quickly ran to her side, forgetting about the hollow in front of him.

"Rukia, are you ok?" he said, as he picked her upper half up softly, seeing blood on the side of stomach. She looked at him with hazy, half-opened eyes.

"Y-Yeah, Ichigo… don't worry," she said, wincing. Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, her eyes widened as she saw the hollow Ichigo left unattended standing behind him.

"Ichigo! Behind you!" she exclaimed. Without taking his eyes off of her, he lifted his sword of his back behind him and killed it with one blow, throwing his sword to the side. Her eyes still wide with shock, she stared at him in disbelief.

"Ichigo you fool, what do you think-" she started, but stopped as Ichigo lifted her up and began to walk past his sword, picking it up swiftly. He then began to run in great haste.

"Wha… where are we going?"

"To Urahara's house, we need to get that wound checked out."

"Ichigo, what are you doing?" Kon asked stubbornly. Ichigo smiled as he was kneeled on the floor, setting blankets next to his bed.

"I'm making a bed for myself," he said, finally finishing with a satisfied look on his face. Kon snorted.

"Do you not see the bed right next to you? Why would you want to sleep on the floor? Only an idiot would-" Ichigo punched him right into the wall.

"Who're you calling an idiot? Rukia's gonna sleep in my bed tonight! I'm just trying to be nice!" He yelled angrily. Kon sat up and put his small teddy bear hands into fists.

"Really? With your manners, I would have thought you would make her sleep on the floor!"

"Why you little-" Just as he was going to continue, Rukia stepped through the door with Urahara standing behind her.

"Would you two shut up! Geez I barely get home and I already find you two going at it!" She said tiredly. Urahara giggled.

"Rukia dear, no need to play mommy," he said behind his fan. She looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"With these two, it never ends." Urahara smiled.

"Well, I'll see you later~!" he said, and the next second he was gone. Ichigo looked at her and smiled.

"Did he take care of you?" She smiled back and lifted up a side of her shirt slightly, to show a piece of the bandages wrapped around her.

"Does it look like it?" Ichigo blushed stubbornly and looked away, nodding. Rukia walked toward the closet.

"Well, I should be getting to bed." Ichigo jolted forward and putt a hand in front of her.

"Uh! Well, actually, you're gonna be sleeping in my bed tonight, and I'll be sleeping on the make-shift bed on the floor." Rukia smiled in appreciaton.

"And where will I sleep? Next to my darling Rukia?" he said spinning around. Ichigo grabbed him by the neck and threw him in the closet.

"Right where you belong shorty!" he said, as him and Rukia sang out in laughter. Ichigo begin to walk out the door.

"I'll leave you to get dressed for bed now," he said, then turned to shut the door. Just before he closed it, he poked his head in for a second.

"You might want to shut the window, it's gonna rain hard tonight." Rukia looked out the window as he shut the door, and whimpered staring at the flashing rain clouds ahead.

That night, Rukia lay awake by the sound of wind and hard rain hitting the roof and window. She curled herself into a ball under the covers and put her hands over her head as thunder boomed outside the window. She let out a couple of small whimpers, but nothing that audible to anyone else. Ichigo, sensing something wrong, woke up, slowly opening his eyes. He lay there in his room, staring up at the ceiling. But in the darkness, he thought he heard small noises coming from his bed. He sat up and looked over his bed, finding Rukia to be curled into a ball, her head happening to be inches from his. He lifted the blanket to find two wide purple eyes staring at him.

Ichigo opened his mouth to speak, but just then a flash of lightening and the sound of booming thunder echoed through his room. Rukia jumped forward putting her arms around Ichigo's neck, pulling her fragile body off the bed. Ichigo's eyes widened, but he put his arms around her, pulling her in close.

"Shh Rukia, its ok. Nothing will happen to you, I promise. I wouldn't let anything happen to you, ever." Rukia suddenly realized she was in his arms, and she pulled back, staring up at him in disbelief to her own actions. Their eyes locked in that indescribable way again, and after a minute passed Ichigo jumped back.

"S-Sorry Rukia," he whispered, looking away.

"I-Its ok, it was my mistake," she said, looking away as well. Ichigo looked at her with a hurt expression, and looked away again sadly.

"Y-Yeah… mistake…"


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning when Rukia got up, Ichigo was still asleep. She found this strange, since he was usually up an hour before her. She got ready so quickly, she had too much time to spare. She was trying to keep preoccupied from thinking about the night before. For the longest time, she sat kneeled next to him on the floor, watching him sleep. She smiled when he occasionally moaned at turned over, rubbing the side of his face into his pillow, messing up his orange hair. Unable to contain herself, she stretched her hand forward to rustle his hair. Just as her fingers we're about to touch his hair, he murmured something, which made her pull back quickly. She leaned forward, trying to make out what he was saying.

"…R…R-Rukia…" She jolted up, and put her arms around herself.

"N-No…. p-please no…" she whispered. Ichigo repeated himself.

"R-Rukia…" Tears formed at her eyes, as she shook her head in disbelief. She didn't want this, as she hoped it meant something else. She and Ichigo had always just been friends, nothing more. Sure she thought of him occasionally, but whenever she caught herself doing so, she just shook her head and focused on something else. Ichigo sat up slowly, coming to consciousness. His eyes widened as he saw her standing in front of him all dressed and ready to go school.

"R-Rukia..? S-Sorry I woke up so late but, I don't think I'm feeling so well… You go ahead, I think I'll stay home…" Rukia nodded and quickly grabbed her bag, hoping he wouldn't see her tears.

"F-Feel better I-Ichigo!" she yelled as she ran out the door, hoping that school would distract her from all the things that might come from this incident.

"Rukia? Are you ok? Where's Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked as Rukia ran up to her panting. Rukia half smiled.

"I-I'm fine, just didn't want to miss class…" she said, quickly wiping the tears from her eye ducts quickly. Orihime looked at her encouragingly and smiled.

"Well, I'm glad you're ok. But if you don't mind me asking where's-"

"Ichigo? He's back at the house. He says that he doesn't feel good," she whispered the last part, looking away. Orihime smiled.

"Doesn't feel good?" she said worringly, "Well, I think at lunch I'll go pay him a visit. Maybe then he'll feel better," she smiled. Rukia smiled back on the outside, but knowing all too well on the inside it was more complicated than that.

Orihime walked to Ichigo's house cheerfully with a bag full of cookies in her hand. She whistled to herself, hoping that her gift would cheer Ichigo up a little. She loved it when he was well, and how strong he could be when he was. In fact, she loved everything about him. His smile, his orange hair, his voice… She blushed just thinking about him. She walked into the door of his father's clinic.

"Oh, hello Orihime! And how are you this fine day?" Ichigo's father Isshin asked cheerfully. Orihime smiled.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. I was just wondering, is Ichigo around? I heard he wasn't feeling well, so-" Isshin smiled and hand on her back.

"Say no more, my idiot son is up the stairs!" he smiled, putting his other hand toward the upstairs. She smiled and nodded, thanking him, and walked up the stairs slowly.

"Uh, Kurosaki-sama, where's-"

"Last door on the left," he called from the clinic. Orihime walked down the hallway quietly, just in case she might be disturbing someone, and approached Ichigo's door slowly. But instead of it being closed all the way, it was cracked open, and she head Ichigo and Kon's voices talking. She peeked in through the crack to see what was going on, surprised to see Ichigo with his shirt off, sitting on his bed with his elbow rested on the windowsill. Orihime blushed and looked to the side.

"Kon, what am I supposed to do… I've thought about her this way in the past, but I've always been able to ignore it, because I've always been distracted with battle and the hollow inside but, lately, it just keeps coming back up." Orihime froze. Who was he talking about? Could it be… that maybe he felt the same as she had for so long?

"Well, why don't you just tell her how you feel you idiot? Don't just sit around like a fool and wait for a hottie like her to get carried away by a hunk like me," he said. Ichigo sighed, ignoring his insults.

"You know I'm no good with words… especially about feelings…" he murmured. Kon sighed.

"Look, Ichigo… if you feel a certain way about somebody, you can't just sit around. Its best to get it out in the open, and things are meant to be, then all you can do is pray you'll find someone else to love," Kon said sadly. Ichigo looked at him wide eyed.

"K-Kon…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you've never heard me this sensitive. Now don't you dare tell anyone about this, you got it?" Ichigo looked out the window.

"Alright… tonight, I'll tell her. Please accept me… Rukia." Orihime's bag fell to the floor as tears came to her eyes and she ran down the stairs , out the door, and as far away as she could possibly get. Ichigo thought he heard something outside the door, and quickly he opened it up, just to find a bunch of broken cookies all over the floor.

"What the heck?" Kon muttered as Ichigo picked up a note off the ground.

"Dear Ichigo, please feel better. Please be strong to take care of everyone again. Love, Orihime Inoue…" he read aloud.

All day, Rukia went around town to keep from going back home as long as possible. She hoped if she came home super late, Ichigo would already be asleep so she could sneak into the closet, avoiding conversation with the boy. Still, she worried about him not feeling well… wishing she could just check on him without getting caught. Too bad his riatsu senses were strong. She finally reached his house close to midnight, seeing all the lights off. She sighed happily, glad she wouldn't have to face him tonight. She hurried up the stairs quietly and opened his room door slowly. But instead of finding a sleeping Ichigo, he was sitting up, back against the wall, his head turned looking out the window, the moonlight lighting up most of it. She put on a fake smile and walked through the door.

"H-Hey Ichigo," she said nervously, walking toward the closet, setting her coat and bag on the floor. Ichigo turned his head and looked at her with surprised eyes.

"Y-You're home already?" Rukia snorted, pulling her nightgown out of the closet, and hopping inside to change.

"Ichigo, its almost midnight," she poked her head out of the closet, "H-Haven't you been checking the time?" Ichigo shook his head. Rukia blushed as he sat up, realizing that he had not shirt on. He walked over to the closet just as she finished changing. When she opened the door, he was standing right in front of her. Her eyes widened up at him.

"I-Ichigo, let me through. I'm tired."

"Rukia, I need to talk to you…" she shut her eyes tightly, waiting to wake up and realize that this was not happening and that it was all just a dream. But to her dismay, her eyes opened to see Ichigo still standing there.

"Can't this wait 'til tomorrow?" she said, shoving past him, "I need to go get a glass of water…" she muttered, walking towards the door. Ichigo grabbed her tiny wrist and pulled her towards him, making her spin around to face him.

"Rukia… I… I kind of…" Rukia started to cry, looking away. Ichigo put his hand on her cheek lightly and pulled it upward, so that she'd look at him.

"I-I love you Rukia…" Rukia, eyes opened with shock, backed up out of his reach, and looked away.

"I-I don't feel… the same," she said coldly. The second he heard those words come out of her mouth, he felt as if a dagger was plunged through his heart. It went cold, and numbness engulfed his entire body. He went into entire shock. This is what he feared all along, and this could jeopardize their entire relationship. Rukia looked up at him and his blank stare, and quickly configured a judo spell to put him to sleep. She kneeled down beside him and used her hand to run his hair through her fingers, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry… Ichigo."


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Ichigo woke up dizzy from the judo spell. He looked around his room confused, until his mind flashed back to the night before. He sat up on his bed and put his hands on top of his head, pulling his hair frustratingly.

"Why did I do that…" he whispered, letting his arms fall to his sides, "I'm an idiot!" he exclaimed, punching the side of his fist into the wall. He turned his head to the side, only to see the closet. He sat up hurringly, and ran over to the closet.

"Rukia…? Rukia, I need to talk to you… please…" he whispered, but not a sound came from the closet. He slowly pushed open with his hand, to reveal nothing but his clothes. No Rukia. No blankets making her bed. None of her clothes. She was… gone. All that was there was a duct-taped teddy bear wriggling to get free. Ichigo quickly ripped the duct-tape as Kon gasped for air.

"Oh god Ichigo, thank you for the second time you've freed me from her duct-tape!" he yelled, kissing Ichigo's feet. Ichigo shook his head and held up the teddy bear.

" Kon, where's Rukia?" he asked worryingly. Kon froze and went silent.

"All she said was, she's never coming back," he said quietly, as they both turned to look at the empty closet.

"She's gone."

Rukia sat under the trees of 6th division's field and cried. She couldn't believe all this was happening. She wanted to keep staying by Ichigo's side, she wished she could. But at this point, after what he had said and done, it was far too complicated. She would miss his smile, and that spiky orange hair that she loved so much. She knew she could stay here and cry for as long as she wanted, since no one would find her here. Besides, she felt a sense of security in her brothers territory. And Ichigo wouldn't dare come to Soul Society, she knew that for sure.

"I-Ichigo… I-Ichigo" she sobbed to herself, "Why d-did you do that? W-Why can't we just…" she started, but began to cry too hard to speak. If she would have known someone else was listening, she might have not cried out his name so loud. Byakuya walked up behind her.

"Rukia..?" Rukia's head shot up and she looked up, only to see her brother through the blur of her tears. She quickly sat up, turning around while jumping backwards. She bowed down, keeping her head low.

"I-I'm so sorry Ni-sama! Please accept my apology!"

"Rukia…"

"D-Don't worry, I'll just be going now," she said standing straight up, the tears not stopping. Byakuya grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into a hug. Her eyes opened wide.

"Just let it out, and then we'll talk," he said quietly. Rukia's eyes softened, and then she just lost all control. She cried against him as he sat there looking down at her, with worried eyes. After about 10 minutes, she pulled back with a wet face and pink eyes, but her tears had stopped. He grabbed her hand and began to walk with her.

"I heard Ichigo's name… I'm guessing it has something do with the boy?" She nodded slowly, both of them looking ahead.

"He confessed to me that he loves me… and I told him I don't feel the same," she said solemnly.

"Why would you lie to the person you love, sister?"

"Byakuya, he's human, he'll die someday soon. And when he does, what do I do? I'd have to through so many places to find him. And when and if I find him, what if he doesn't remember?" Byakuya chuckled at her cuteness. Rukia slowed down.

"And more importantly, brother, I don't want Ichigo to get hurt… I'm scared that if I stay by his side, I'll eventually bring him to some harm…" Byakuya looked ahead seriously.

"He's already got enough going against him, Rukia. Do you think your support and strength will hurt? Absolutely not. And remember when you went back to his school after so long? He was weak while you were gone, and the moment you showed up, he was strong again." Rukia looked away.

"I see your point brother, but…" Byakuya stopped suddenly and looked up. He stared up at the cherry blossoms and smiled sadly.

"I remember your sister, Rukia… her and I would come out here every year , holding hands, and walking through the cherry blossoms," he whispered, squeezing Rukia's hand tightly.

"My beautiful wife…" he muttered quietly. Rukia looked up at him with sad eyes.

"Byakuya…" Her elder brother turned and looked at her seriously, straight in the eye. He grabbed her other hand and held both tightly.

"Rukia, please don't leave Ichigo alone. It's the worse thing you could do ever him, because he'll never truly get over it. Don't think about the time you might not have, treasure love everyday you have it. You only find true love once…" he muttered the last part looking away, "Don't let it go to waste." He cupped her cheek with one of his hands and smiled a sad smile once again.

"You have so many years ahead of you… don't you want to share them with the one you cherish?" Rukia started to cry, looking in her brothers eyes. She nodded slowly, and he pulled her close.

"Hurry and go back to him Rukia," he whispered. Rukia looked up at him.

"And what if its too late?" Byakuya smiled.

"If he really loves you, it's never too late to go back to him."

Rukia hurried back to the world of the living as fast as her legs could carry. She knew that every minute she wasted. She ran into Ichigo's house, up the stairs, and opened the door quickly. But to her dismay, she found an empty room. No trace of Kon or Ichigo. She quickly ran downstairs and into the clinic, but Isshin wasn't to be found. Rukia quickly went into the living room, only to find Karin, Yuzu, and Isshin all crowded around the T.V.

"Kurosaki-sama, where's Ichigo?" Isshin turned around.

"Rukia, are you telling me you haven't heard? He's with Orihime," he said quietly. Rukia looked down.

"He's _with_ Inoue-san?" Isshin shook his head.

"No, not like that. Look," he said, as he pointed to the T.V. On the screen was Orihime standing at the top of a mall on the ledge, looking determined to jump off. Ichigo was ten feet behind her, pleading her not to do so. Rukia's eyes widened.

"See, Rukia, its really-" he started, turning around. But the next thing he knew, she was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled from the crowd outside the mall. There were tons of people pushing and shoving, trying to see. She tried to get ahead of them all so she could get up there, but as she pushed through the crowd she got knocked over and fell. She quickly recuperated and got up, heading through the crowd to get to the side of the building, trying to reach the mob's end. She ducked under some caution tape on the side and ran to the back of the building, guards tailing her. Rukia jumped onto a dumpster so she was in jumping distance of the metal ladder on the wall. She took a leap of faith as her fingers barely clutched the bottom rail. With all the strength she had, she lifted herself up quickly and climbed to the top of the building.

"Ichigo! Orihime!" Rukia yelled. Both of their head's turned around quickly to look at Rukia. She could now see that Ichigo had a look of stress on his face, and that Orihime was sobbing , her face covered in tears.

"Rukia…" Ichigo said quietly. He gave her a look like she shouldn't have come back. Rukia's heart froze over like the coldest days of winter, her eyes getting wet.

"Orihime, what is the meaning of this?" She said, choking on some of her words.

"Kuchiki-san, you're so lucky… you have everything. You're strong, beautiful, you have family, a brother who loves you, and you have the only thing I could ever want… the heart of Ichigo Kurosaki." Rukia's cheeks lightly turned pink, and she shook her head.

"Orihime…"

"I lost all of that! The only thing I had left to live for was the hope that Ichigo and I would be together! And now that he loves you… I'm done… I-I can't go on." She whispered softly. Ichigo looked at her with sad eyes.

"Orihime, why are you being so selfish? You think you can just leave all of us; all of your friends, and me!" Orihime's eyes went wide with shock.

"It's not like you'll have to watch Rukia and I be together everyday anyways," he said, looking down at the floor clenching his fists, "Orihime, just because I don't love you, doesn't mean that I don't want you or need you around!" Orihime cried as he strared at her with angry eyes. He walked forward and held out his hand, settling into a soft smile.

"You're my friend, and I couldn't live without you," he said warmly. Orihime smiled and took a step forward, stretching her hand towards, but accidentally did so quickly, as her foot slipped and she fell backwards. The next thing they heard was her blood curdling scream!

"ICHIGOOOOOOOOOO!"


	5. Chapter 5

Ichigo sat up after lying in the soft grass for who knows how many hours. He sighed, his hair moving in the soft breeze. At times like these, he usually thought of his mother, but today he found all his thoughts on Rukia. He looked discerned as he stared at the ground, his eye brows pulled together. It showed how deeply he was thinking about everything that had happened. All of sudden, he was awoken from his trance by the sound of metal hitting the sidewalk loudly. He sat up and turned around, then smiled when he saw who it was.

"Orihime," he said, smiling. Orihime approached him with a broken leg and a cast on her arm, being carried around on crutches under her arms.

"Hello Kurosaki-san!" she giggled, smiling. Ichigo took a few steps toward her.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm a lot better; I've gotten so many get well cards and flowers from people," she said smiling with pink warm cheeks. Ichigo smiled.

"Well, I'm glad at least one of us is feelin' better…" Orihime stopped smiling.

"Kurosaki-kun…" she said, staring at his sad face. Orihime's head turned as she heard someone calling her name from the side. She saw Rukia, running toward her smiling. Ichigo looked too, and then put a hand on Orihime's arm.

"Uh, Inoue-san, I have to go home," he said quickly, "I have things to do." The next thing she knew, Ichigo was gone. Rukia came to an abrupt stop in front of her, panting slightly.

"How are you feeling?" Orihime smiled.

"Better. I was just telling Ichigo about all the flowers I've received." Rukia stopped smiling.

"Ichigo; he was here?" Orihime nodded. Rukia look to the side.

"Oh…" she muttered quietly. Orihime set her crutches down and settled on the grass. She patted the ground next to her, ushering Rukia to sit next to her. Rukia sat down slowly, giving her a confused look.

"Kuchiki-san, please don't take Kurosaki-kun for granted…" Rukia sighed.

"Inoue-san," she started, but was cut off by Orihime's speech.

"Kuchiki-san, please, just listen to me. You can't take someone like him for granted, and," she turned to look at her straight in the eyes, "I've seen the way you look at him, Rukia. You love him too. Please don't take that cute and wonderful smile off his face any longer... I just hate it when he's sad…" Rukia's eyes at this point we're wide with shock. She looked away. Orihime was right, she had to tell Ichigo. But every time she would come close to him, he'd always run off somewhere, even at school. Rukia stood up and looked over at Orihime, nodding. The orange haired girl smiled.

"Go to him, Kuchiki-san."

This time when Rukia walked back to Ichigo's house, she did it slowly. That way, she'd have time to think about what she would say to him and she could prepare herself for every reaction he had. The only reaction she didn't think about was that of love and joy. At this point, and seeing the way he had looked at her when she climbed to the top of the mall, she doubted that he would react in any positive emotion. She opened and shut the front door quietly, being careful not to wake anyone. She stepped silently through the house and up the stairs, making her way down to Ichigo's bedroom door. She gulped, and timidly opened the door, ready to face him. She slowly discovered, though, that Ichigo was not in his room. She hurried around the room, searching for him anywhere. Her attention then turned to the open window above Ichigo's bed.

"Ichigo…?" she muttered quietly. She crawled out the window and onto the low roof, then pulled herself up onto the top of the second, only to find Ichigo's sitting on the roof with his hands resting on his propped up knees, his back facing her. She could tell he was just staring off into the distance. Rukia opened her mouth to speak, but she was suddenly interrupted.

"The sky is seems to be clear tonight, Rukia…" he said quietly, then sat up and turned around to face her. He had a sad sweet smile on his face, with a hurtful expression, "I only wish my thoughts would be the same…" Rukia started to tear up.

"Ichigo…"

"Rukia, its fine, you don't have to say anything. I'll get over this soon enough," he said. Ichigo then started to smile at her lovingly.

"You look so beautiful in the moonlight, with you're hair moving in the wind," he quietly confessed as tears formed in his eyes, "I'm jealous of the man who holds you're heart…"

"That's interesting… I've never heard of a man who was jealous of himself…" Rukia replied quietly. She stared as his eyes grew a look of frustration and hurt.

"Rukia, please," he pleaded, "don't get my hopes up…" Rukia began to cry, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

"Ichigo, I'm not. I lied to you before, when I told you that I didn't feel the same. It hurt me extremely when I saw how it affected you, but I felt as though I had to do it."

"Why would you do something so hurtful and cruel if you really loved me?"

"Because, Ichigo… we're just too complicated. I was worried that I would bring harm to you, and even if I didn't, I was worried what would happen after you died and how long it would take me to find you, and if I didn't find you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself, and… and I'm sorry, Ichigo. I can see how much I've hurt you. I promise, I'll leave you alone from here on out," she said sobbing, and turning around to leave. She was stopped though, because Ichigo grabbed her arm and suddenly wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

"Rukia, you make me so strong… you make me want to destroy the monster inside of me, and make me want to keep living everyday. You're adorable laugh and your cute expressions make my vision and hearing both worth having. Please don't leave my side, ever. I love you, Rukia Kuchiki, beside any excuse you can think of." Rukia looked up at him as he looked down at her. He leaned down slowly, and lip-locked her softly. She put her arms around his neck as they sat there in the moonlight, not even planning to pull back.

(A/N: My sequell will be posted up in a few weeks. Can't wait to see you then :3)


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